SCHENECTADY — Apparently we're still getting to know Jeremy Denk. Sunday afternoon was his fourth solo recital for the Union College Concert Series in a little more than five years. It was the most restrained and tender side of him we've heard so far.

There was still the same intelligence on view, with pithy spoken remarks from the stage as well as grand and insightful playing. But there were no blockbuster pieces on this program like Denk usually delivers.

There was something big, though — Schumann's "Davidsbudlertanze," which lasted about 35 minutes. But the Schumann is an early and episodic piece made up of 18 brief sections. So there was no mighty architecture for Denk to assemble and illuminate. Instead, it was a series of moments to inhabit and enliven, kind of like reading through a daily journal. And it was lovely. Denk pretty much let the music speak for itself, keeping his own ego in check.

Denk does have ambition, though, as we've seen in past years when he's knocked out the Ives "Concord" Sonata or Bach's "Goldberg" Variations, among other weighty undertakings. Somehow an exploration of Liszt seemed like a fine next undertaking. Sunday's program was to have had four pieces by the composer, but a last-minute change cut that number in half.

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Concert review

Jeremy Denk, piano

When: 3 p.m. Sunday

Where: Union College Memorial Chapel, Schenectady

Length: Two hours, with one intermission

Denk opened with the fantasia on the Liebestod from Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde." Though dark, thick and stirring, its pervasive theme of love nicely complemented the Schumann that followed. "Apres une lecture du Dante," which launched the second half, was the boldest statement of the afternoon.

The program ended with Beethoven's Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, Op. 111 — the same finale Denk gave us just 14 months ago. Where's the ambition in that? The piece is on his recent Nonesuch debut disc, and he's taking this program to Carnegie in a few months. But if Denk's repertoire is that limited — which seems unlikely — then maybe he shouldn't be returning here quite so regularly.